Fri Tanke is Sweden’s leading forum for scientific, philosophical, social and existential ideas. Committed to the ideals of the Enlightenment — reason, science and human rights — we bring some of the world’s greatest thinkers and speakers into conversation with a wide audience.

Our story began in 2007 when author and publisher Christer Sturmark and musician Björn Ulvaeus, a member of ABBA, founded Fri Tanke with the ambition of making high-quality popular science accessible to Swedish readers. Since then, Fri Tanke has grown into a vibrant meeting place where knowledge meets curiosity, and ideas have the power to transform society.

Every year, Fri Tanke publishes around 40 books, ranging from groundbreaking popular science to thought-provoking philosophy. Some of these titles have become the best-selling non-fiction books of the year in Sweden, establishing Fri Tanke as a driving force in shaping the national conversation.

In collaboration with the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, we also publish the Classical Science series, continuing the tradition of knowledge on which the Nobel Prizes in Physics, Chemistry and Economics are based.

Fri Tanke is more than a publishing house: it is a hub for ideas that reach beyond the printed page. Our quarterly magazine, Sans, explores critical thinking and the big questions of our time, and our podcast, Fri Tanke-podden, invites leading figures to discuss the issues shaping our world. Through public events and debates, Fri Tanke brings ideas to life and makes them accessible to a broad audience.

International Authors

During the past years Fri Tanke has facilitated conversations with David Chalmers, Michael Pollan, Bill Browder, Jane Goodall, Michail Sjisjkin and Ulrike Herrmann, just to name a few. We always film our events to make them accessible to a wider audience. Please find a selection of such recordings below, and even more here or on our YouTube channel.